Shattered
by Lo613
Summary: What if the Doctor had pulled the trigger? Speculation on the gun scene from 'A Town Called Mercy'. Spoilers for that episode. Rated for non-explicit violence.


**I've had this written for about a week, just haven't had the chance to ge it typed up. Basically an AU ending to 'A Town Called Mercy'. Been stuck on the possibilities of a Dark Doctor for a while now, and this sort of came about as a result of that. Enjoy! Disclaimer- I'm not nearly as evil as Moffat. As a result I can never own the show. **

* * *

The Doctor shoved Jex out and over the rock border and raised his gun up, training it directly on the other man's head.

"You wouldn't." Said Jex, watching the Doctor closely.

"I genuinely don't know." The Time Lord replied, cocking the gun all the while.

He's almost proud of just how steady he'd managing to keep the gun; his hand is barely even shaking.

He says that he doesn't know, but deep down inside of himself, in a place that even he rarely dares to venture into, he knows. Of course he knows if he would really and truly kill the man in front of him. He doesn't necessarily like the answer, but he's not particularly surprised by it either.

The Doctor fights the urge to just let himself pull the trigger and end this entire ordeal.

"You coward." Jex snarled. "YOu wouldn't kill me, not even to save all these people, would you?" He accused.

And something inside the Doctor snaps.

Jex, he's right. He's always been the coward who wouldn't dirty his hands to save hundreds, maybe thousands, of people or more.

In his Ninth regeneration with Rose, on the Gamesatation. He could have wiped out the entire Dalek fleet. Yes, it would have killed people, but he could have done it. Could have cleansed the universe of Dalek scum, effectively saving millions of people from later attacks.

But once more, he hadn't had the guts to do it. Hadn't had the guts to kill for the greater god.

In his Tenth regeneration, he'd had Jenny. Another Time Lord. Another person he could have travelled with. Another person with _so_ _much_ potential. He'd had a _daughter._

But he'd had so much mercy on General Kobb, practically brainwashing Jenny into his own ways of never chosing violence. Rather letting people die than taking action himself.

And look how that had turned out.

His daughter, mere hours old, if that, dead.

And now in this regeneration, he was facing the same choice as he always did. Stick to his cowardly ways and let everybody behind him die. Or. Pull the trigger and save those same people. The entire town of Mercy.

Issac took a step forward and put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"Come on now, Doctor. You can't seriously be considering this." He said, clearly trying to coax the Doctor away from Jex.

The Doctor is silent for a moment before answering.

"Get off of me, Issac." He commanded, voice deadly calm, not taking his eyes off Jex for even a second. After a few more moments, Issac did as the Doctor said, taking a few steps back.

"Doctor!" It's Amy who's speaking this time. "You can't just kill him!" She exclaimed.

The Doctor swallows.

"Amy, if I don't do this, everybody here dies! I can't let that happen!"

Pause.

Amy spoke, her words slow and deliberate.

"No, you see, this is what happens when you're alone for too long, Doctor." She said.

_No, _the Doctor thought, _This is what happens when I make the right choice._

He pulled the trigger.

**~oOo~**

The Doctor walked around the TARDIS console, slowly inputting commands for his ship. He finished, though with significantly less vigor than normal, and shot an annoyed glance at Amy, walking over to and leaning on the guard rail next to her.

"You haven't said a single thing to me." He noted. "Get on with it then." He said, a sigh in his voice.

Amy studied the ground, flat-out refusing to look the Doctor in the eye.

"You killed him."

"It was him or all of Mercy."

"You didn't have to kill him."

"There was no other way!" The Time Lord snapped. "Not everything is written in black and white, Pond!"

Amy was silent.

"I think me and Rory need to go home." She whispered.

The Doctor stared, dumbfounded.

"Amelia..." He said, stunned.

"Doctor." Said Amy, voice clearly strained. "Please. Just take us home."

The Doctor's changed, shifting from shock into visible anger, and he stalked back over to the TARDIS console.

"Fine." He growled. "Get Rory."

He worked his way around his ship's controls, pressing buttons and adjusting dials. When he was finished, he planted both hands on the console, vaguely aware of their shaking, caused purely out of rage directed at this moment.

He didn't need them. He'd never needed them. None of them. Not Amy or Rory, of Donna, or Martha; not Tegan and Adric, not Sarah Jane, and not Ian and Barbra. He didn't need anybody. It was his choice to bring them along; he could function fine without humans bothering him all the bloody time. They could go back to their homes and never see him again, and everybody would be fine with that. Which was good. He could live in peace, on his own, and Amy and Rory could go back to Leadworth and never see him again.

The TARDIS landed just as Amy and Rory came back into the console room. The Doctor glowered at the pair, then pointe to the doors.

"There." He said, motioning to them. "Get out. See if I care."

Amy bit her lip as Rory whispered something to her, leading his wife over to the exit. Rory pushed the doors open and let Amy out. He cast one final glare at his Time Lord companion before stepping outside himself.

Struggling to keep his breathing under control, the Doctor quickly walked over to the TARDIS's door, slamming it shut, then leaning against it. He slid down against it into a sitting position, sinking his head in between his knees.

In the course of an hour, he had saved a town, killed a man, and pushed his two best friends away.

What was there left for him to do?

* * *

**And there we are. It's been a while since I wrote Eleven, but I tried to get him in character. You know, as in character as possible with how this turned out. Please leave a review, I would love to know what you thought, and I'm curious as to how in character you thought I wrote this so that I can further improve my writing. Thanks for reading, have a great day, and DFTBA!**

**Oh, more thoughts here. I'm currently working on a Dark Doctor piece with Ten and Torchwood. Not actually going to publish it until I finish it I don't think, but anything is possible. So if you guys have some idea for that you want me to incorporate, that would just be awesome. Anything you want to throw at me will be considered. I mean it. Pretty much anything, except for ideas with themes of sex. Romance, however is all cool and dandy. Plot points, characters, scenes, anything. I've already decided based on the first five chapters or so that this is going to be rated as an M story, so most anything is acceptable. Tell me what you might like to see in a review or send me a PM, I always reply. **

**For reals this time, thanks for reading, have a fantastic day, and DFTBA!**


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